Supervisory control system



May 8, 1928. 1,669,112

F. H. WINTER SUPERVISORY CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Sept. 15, 1924 InvehtoP:

Fred H .Winteri His Attorney.

Patented May 8, 1928.

UNITED [STATES P- 'rnNT OFFICE.

FRED H, WINTER, OI SCHENEGTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SUPERVISORY CONTROL SYSTEM.

Application filed September 15, 1924. Serial Io. 737,717.

My invention relates to supervisory con-' trol systems. and has for its object the provision of an improved arrangement for selectively controlling from one location the connections of a plurality of electric circuits.

which are situated at some distance from the point of control.

In the past, various arrangements have been proposed and used for selectively controlling from one location the connections of a plurality of circuits situated at a distance from the point of control; Many of these systems comprise a selector element adapted to be positioned in accordance with the circuit to be selected, a contact device, an electroresponsive device for operating the contact device and a follow-up device for deenergizing the contact device operating means when the contact device has been operated to the selected position. My invention belongs to this class of apparatus and consists in an arrangement of elements by which the operation of such systems is facilitated and rendered more reliable.

My invention will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing and .its scope will be pointed outin the appended claims. The drawing shows a balance relay 1 having its operating coils 2 and 3 arranged to be connected to the line 4. through a selector elementshown as a. manually controlled resistor 5 located at the control point and a follow-up device shown as anautomatically controlled resistor 6 situated in the locality of the circuits to be controlled. The resistor 5. comprises a. contact member 7 which is arranged to cooperate with a plurality of contacts'S to 17 inclusive. The contacts 8' to 17 inclusive of the automatically controlled resistor 6 are arranged to be connected to the conductors '18 and 58 and to the line 4 through a sliding contact 19, which is insulated from 'the sliding contacts 20 and 21 and together with these sliding contacts is mounted on the movable member 22.

Assuming the resistances of the relay coils 2 and 3 to be equal, the resistances of the resistors 5 and 6 to have the same value, and the contact members 7 and 19 to be in. their illustrated positions, current is supplied from the line 4 to the coil 3 through resi stor 6 and to the coil 2 through the resistor 5, the circuits being as follows; from one side of line 4 through'movable contacts 7, contact 8. coil 3 of relay 1, contact 17' resistance 6, contact- 8',-m0vable contact 19 and conductor 58 to the other side of line 4. The portion of this circuit between movable contacts 7 and movable contact 19 is paralleled by a circuit including contact 8, resistance 5, coil 2 of relay 1 and contact 8. With these co'nnections, the currents to be supplied to coils 2 and 3 will be equal and the contact arm 23 of the relay 1 will be balanced in its illustrated position, thereby maintaining the contact 24 out of engagement with the contact 25 and the contact 26 out of engagement with the contact 27.

.An electroresponsive device shown as motor 28 having oppositely wound field windings 29 and 30 and provided with a brake 31 arranged to be released in response to energization of brake coil 32 is'mechanically. coupled to the contact member 22 through a shaft 33, worm gear 34 and the threaded shaft 35. The brake coil 32 is arranged to be connected to the line 4 through cooperating contacts 36 and 37 which are biased to openposition by a spring 38 and are adapted to be closed in response to energization of the operating coil 39 of the relay 40. The relay 40 is also provided with a pair' of contacts 41 and 42 which are arranged to complete a circuit between the plus and the negative conductors of the line 4 through conductors 53,54, 55, 56, sliding contact 21 of a contact device, one of the operatin circuits 4ii-to 52"inclusive and conductor 5 It will be readily understood that the particular operating circuit thus connected across the line 4 by thecontact device comprising sliding contact 21, contacts 43. to 52 and conductor 56 will be determined by the position or the member 22 upon which the sliding contact 21 is mounted. In order to simphfy the drawing, only two of the operating circuits have-been shown as completed.

Control relay means 59 and 60 are pro vided for completing circuits by which the motor 28 is connected to the line:4 for operation in opposite directions. These relays are interlocked in a manner to prevent: their simultaneous :operation to the closed positions of their main contacts and'are each provided with contacts in case by any means,

accidental or otherwise, the circuit of the sliding contact 21 of the contact device is brought to rest near the center of one of the contacts of conductors 43 to .52 inclusive.

If the contact arm 7 of the selector element is moved into engagement with its contact 16, for example, current is supplied from the line 4 to the coil 2 through 'a small part of the resistor 5 and to the (201i 3 through all of the resistor 6 and a large to part of the resistor 5. With these connections, the contact making relay 1 1s unbal anced and its contact 26 is moved into ongagement with the contact 27, thereby energizing the coil 39 of relay 40 and the (30118 no 61 and 62 of the control relay means 59 through a circuit leading from one side of circuit 4 and comprisingconductors 53, 63, 64, auxiliary contact 65 and 66 of the control relay means 60, conductor 67, auxiliary contacts 68 and 69 of relay means 60 and conductors 70,71 and 72 back to the opposite side of the circuit 4. Upon cnergization of the coil 39 of the relay 40,-the contacts 41 and 42 are disengaged and thecontact 37 is moved to into engagement with the contact 36, thus interrupting the connection to the contact device 21 and connecting the brake coil 32 to the line 4 through conductors 53, 54, 73

and 72. Upon energization of theeoperating 80 coils 61 and 62 of the relay means 59, the

' auxiliary contacts 74, 75, 76 and 77 are opened and main contacts 78, 79, 80 and 81 are closed. It will be observed that the main contacts 78, 79, 80 and 81 of relay 85 means 59, and 82, 83, 84 and 85 ofrelay means 60 are'biased to open position by means of springs 86, 87, 88 and 89. Closure of the main contacts 80 and 81 connects the armature winding of the motor 28 to the line 4 in'series with its field winding to the line 4 through a circuit comprising conductors 53, 90, 91, 92, limit switch 93 and conductors 94 and 72.

With these connections, the motor 28 is along the-contacts of the follow-up resistor 6, thereby gradually connecting more and more of the resistor 6 in series withthc coil. 2 and simultaneously diminishing the resistance in series with the coil 3, thus tending to equalizethe currents of coils 2 and 3.

- When the sliding contact 19 has moved into engagement with the contact 16', the cur-' rents of the coils 2 and. 3 will be substan-,

tially' equal and the relay 1 Will-:be actuateil izn amanner to disengage contacts 26 "an 2 With the a pafatus arranged hereto! foredescribe opening of. the contacts 26.

and 27 would de-energiz'e the relays 40. and 59, thus-v de-energiz'ing and braking the motor and closing the contacts 41 and 42 through which the contact device is con nectedQto theline 4. It will be observed that the sliding contact 21 of the contact driven in a direction to move the arm 22.

contacts 36,

aeeaiaa the spacing between the contacts, it would be undesirable to stop the sliding contact midway between the circult contacts for the reason that in one case the operating circuit would not be completed upon closure of the contacts 41 and 42 and in the other casetwo of the operating circuits wouldbe connected to line 4 in parallel.

To prevent stoppage of the slidingcon tact 21 in a position between two of theoperating circuit contacts, a holding circuit leading from one side of circuit 4 and comprising conductors 53, 95 and 96, sliding contact 97, one of the contacts 98 to 106, conductor 107, main contacts 78 and 79, coils '61 and 62 or relay 59,- and conductors 71 and 72 to the otherside of circuit 4, is provided. The sliding contact 97 is mountedon the member 22 as previously indicated and is arranged to maintain the holding circuit onlyuntil it has moved into ii -position in alignment with one of the contacts of operating circuits 43 to 53 and out of engagement with the one of the contacts 98 to 106 on which it happens to be when the contacts .27 and 26 are disengaged. The arrangement ating circuits 50 and 51, the operating cirouits of relays 40" and 59 are maintained. closed by the contact member 105 until the sliding contact 21 has moved to the middle of the contact of'loaddevice circuit 51. In this position the relays 40 and '59 are deenergized, the motor 28 is de-energized and braked, and contacts 41'a nd 42 are closed to connect the operating circuit 51.to the line 4. The selectively controlled circuits may be utilized to actuate different kinds of electrical devices such as relays, switches or other devices. Assuming the contact arm 7 of the resistor 5. to be in engagement with the contact 16, as previously described, the operating circuit 46 may be energized .by moving the contact arm 7 of the selector device into engagement with the contact 11. When this is done, the relaylis actuated in a manner to close the contacts 24 and 25, thereby ener- .g1z1ng .the operating coils of the relays 40 and the 'relay'imeans 60,- and closing their connecting the armature winding of the 37, 82, 83,84 and 85, thereby 1,ece,112-

, motor 28 in series with its field winding 29 and 3 are again balanced, and a holding circuit exten ing from one side of circuit 4 through conductor 53, coil 39, conductors 95 and 96, sliding contact 97, contact segment 101, conductor 107, contacts 82 and 83 of relay GO coils 111 and 112 of relay means 60 and conductors 113 and 72 back to the other'side of circuit 4, is maintained closed until the sliding contact 21 has moved into alignment with the contact of operating circuit 46. When this occurs, the relays 40 and are deenergized, the motor 28 is deenergized and braked and the operating cir: cuit is connected to the line 4 through closure of the contacts 41 and 42 of relay 40.

In operating circuits 51 and C 2 are shown devices 114' and 115 which may be considered as representing in a general-way any device adapted to be operated by a supervisory control system. For example, devices 114 and 115 may be relay coils which close or open circuits or eflect merely mechanical functions. One of the devices may be conveniently used to cause the closing of a circuit and the other to cause its opening: It should be noted that the auxiliary contacts of motor control relay means 59 and 60 operate as interlocks to prevent operation of one of these relays until the other is deenergized and the pilot motor is disconnected from'the line.. This ensures reliability in the operation of the system. The fact that the operating circuit is never closed until thecontrol equipment is tie-energized is of especial advantage inthat it makes it possible to select any one of a large number of operating. circuits without in any way-disturbing the connections of the remaining operating circuits.

' As will be evident to those skilled in the art, my invention permits of various changes and modifications without depart ing from the true spirit thereof or from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States,is

1. An apparatus for selectively control ling a plurality of circuits, comprising a selector element adapted to be positioned according to the circuit to be selected, a, contact device including a plurality of spaced contacts and a movable contact member adapted to cooperate with said contacts, an electroresponsive device for operating said contact member, means for controlling the energization of said electroresponsive device, a follow-up element operable in accordance with the position of saidcontact member, a relay connected to operate in accordance with the relative positions of said selector and follow-up elements for controlling the energization of said control means, a connection controlled in accordance with the position of said contact member for maintaining the circuit of said control means independently of said relay until said contact member is moved into alignment with the contact of the circuit to be controlled, and means operable in accordance 'with the energization of said electroresponsive means for controlling the selected circuit.

2.'An apparatus for selectively controlling a plurality of circuits, comprising a selector element adapted to be positioned according to the circuit to be controlled, a, contact device including a plurality of spaced contacts and a movable contact member adapted to cooperate with said contacts, an electroresponsive device, means for controlling the energization of said electroresponsive device to move said contact member along said contacts in one direction. means for controlling the energlzation of said electroresponsive device to move said contact member along said contacts in the opposite direction, a follow-up element operable in accordance with the position of said contact member, a relay connected to operate in accordance with the relative positions of said selector and follow-up elements for controlling the energization of said control means, a connection controlled in accordance with the position of said contact member for maintaining the circuit of one of said control means until said contact member is moved in one direction into engagement with the contact of the circuit to i be controlled and for maintaining the circuit of the other of said control means until said contact member is moved in the oppo--' site direction into engagement with the contact of the circuit to be controlled, and means operable in accordance with the energization of said electroresponsive means for 7 means tact device, an electroresponsive device havmg lts energization controlled by said relay formovin 1 said contact arms, and a connecengagement with the contact of the circuit to be controlled and a relay operable in accordance with the energization of said elect-- troresponsi've means for changing a connection of the circuit to be controlled.

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4. An apparatus for selectively controlling a plurality of circuits, comprising a selector element. adapted to be positioned according. to the circuit to be controlled, a followalp' device-including a plurality of contacts and ...a contact member arranged to cooperate 20 with said contacts, a contact deviceincluding a-plurality of spaced contacts and a con.- ta'ct member arranged to cooperate With said spaced contacts, an electroresponsive device it is hereby certifiedthat errorcaar ricarqr or cochlea.

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' for operating said contact members, a relay connected to operate in accordance with the relative positions of said selector element and the contact member of said follow up device for controlling the energization of said electroresponsive means, a holding circmt including a plurality of contacts and a contact arm arranged to be operated by said clectroresponsive device and to cooperate with said holding circuit contacts for maintaining the circuit of said elect-roresponsive means independently of said relay until the contact member of said contact 'device'is moved into engagement. with the contact of the circuit to be controlled, and a relay operable-inaccordance with the energization of said electroresponsive means for changf mg a connection of the circuit to be controlled.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 13th day of September; 1924.

' FRED H. WINTER Granted May 8, 11928, to

appears lathe printed specification ot'thc 'vc aredpatcnt requiring-correction as. tollows z P g 2;" tim 88 M h word "or" read-"ct"; and that the said hetters Patent should be read with 1mg.

-. correction therein that Patent dttice.

'Si and sealed this 5th day or 3e, A. D. V

the same may conto to the-record ot the case in the 

